Sliding door hanger



Feb. 13, 1962 A. T. cox 3,020,582

SLIDING DOOR HANGER Filed March 8, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet l 5 4 3 6 E 3 a I E E l I I 7 5 i i E i i i :2 2 E l F-IG.

INVENTOR, AR THUR 7: C ox AT TORNEY Feb. 13, 1962 A. T. cox 3,020,582

SLIDING DOOR HANGER Filed. March 8, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Mrrnuwulloz INVENTOR, ARTHUR 7. Cox 3 ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,020,582 SLIDING DOOR HANGER Arthur T. Cox, Pasadena, Calif., assignor to Arthur Cox and Sons, Inc., Pasadena, Calif., a corporation of California Filed Mar. 8, 1960, Ser. No. 13,488 1 Claim. (Cl. 16-105) The present invention relates to a sliding door hanger of a type which allows easy adjustment for the purpose of plumbing a door supported by the hanger.

Many builders employ sliding doors in place of swing doors as a sliding door does not move into a room or take up space. As a rule, some form of hanger is utilized, the hanger employing a truck adapted to move upon a rail, the rail being sup-ported by a header above the door opening. Various and sundry means have been employed in the past for sliding doors and the hangers for adjusting the door to the end that it is plumb and moves easily upon the supporting rail. As a rule, and so far as the inventor is aware, complication has grown rather than decreased, rendering the installation of builders hardware of the type mentioned, the work of a skilled carpenter. Further, the door is difiicult to place in position on the rail and any adjustment has to be accomplished prior to any finishing or use of molding around the door openmg.

An object of the present invention is to provide a sliding door hanger wherein the door and its hanger are readily placed in position with the hanger upon the rails with a minimum of effort on the part of the installer and wherein adjustment of the hanger relative to the track and the door is easily accomplished using simple tools for this purpose.

The present invention allows use of hangers for sliding doors in a standard 2 x 4" partition wall.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear as the specification proceeds, and the invention provides a sliding door hanger of inexpensive construction, which is foolproof in operation, and generally superior to door hangers now known to the inventor.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary, partially sectional elevation of a sliding door utilizing the door hanger of the invention, the sliding door being shown partly within the door pocket and within the door opening;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary, sectional view on the line 2-2 of FIGURE 1, and on an enlarged scale illustrating installation of the door from either side of the door opening;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary, sectional view on the line 35 of FIGURE 1, the door being shown within the door opening;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary, plan view of a portion of the top of the sliding door with the hanger mounted thereon;

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary, side elevation of the door and door hanger shown in FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary, sectional view on the line 66 of FIGURE 5; and

FIGURE 7 is a rear elevation of the hanger, being the opposite side from that of FIGURE 5.

As shown in FIGURES 1, 2 and 3, a sliding door 1 is adapted to be fitted within a framing of a type which includes a pair of spaced apa1t jambs 2 and 3 furnishing therebetween communication with a pocket 4. A cross beam or header is provided at 5 and to the header is secured a track of some form, here designated as 6. In addition to jambs 2 and 3, a face jamb 7 is provided and between the jambs is the door opening 8. In the present illustration, the track 6 compresses an elongated strip, which may be cut to size, and embodies a top flange 9,

a side web 10 in substantially right angular relationship to the top flange 9 and a bottom concave-convex flange 11 which acts as a trackway for the door hanger. In the present instance the top flange 9 is shown with a longitudinal rib 12 for the purpose of preventing the truck from jumping the trackway. The top flange 9 is secured to the header in any appropriate manner such as by screws 13.

The sliding door hanger includes a bracket 29 having two legs 21 and 22 in right angular relationship. Leg 21 forms the base which is provided with a series of transverse openings through which screws 23 may be passed for fastening the bracket to the top of the door. An arm 24, having an angular end 25 is pivotted at 26 to the vertical leg 22 of the bracket. The arm 24 i offset at 27 and terminates in portion 28. The portion 28 has pivotted thereto at 29, a bar 30 formed with parallel offset ends 31 and 32, the offset ends 31 and 32 have mounted thereto rollers 33 and 34. The rollers arerprefera-bly formed from nylon and are provided with hub portions 35 and 36 for spacing the treads of said rollers outwardly from the offset ends 31 and 32. As shown in FIGURE 6, the tread width is such as to allow the rollers to be accommodated within the concave-convex flange 11 of the track 6.

The vertical leg 22 of the bracket is intermediately slotted at 4t) and provided with a lug 41 which extends inwardly of the bracket at the slot at an obtuse angle. The arm 24 along its lower edge is provided with a lug 42 at an obtuse angle to the plane of the arm, the lugs 41 and 42 having the same angularity relative to the planes of their specific members. The lug 42 is provided with a screw threaded bore 43 and the lug 41 is provided with an angular-1y disposed slot 44, as shown in FIGURE 7. Adapted for passage through the slot 44 for engagement with the screw threaded bore 43, is an adjusting screw or bolt 45, preferably the screw or bolt has a head provided with a kerf so that turning of the screw may be readily accomplished by means of a screw driver, as illustrated in FIGURE 6 at 46. As shown, the slot portion 40 is of sufficient size to accommodate the screw driver therein.

The operation, uses and advantages of the invention just described are as follows.

The door 1 prior to its installation within the door opening has secured thereto two or more of the hangers of the invention, as shown in FIGURE 3. The hanger adjacent the pocket side of the door has the bracket 20 secured usually approximately one inch from the side edge of the door while a second bracket is secured approximately two and one-half inches from the jamb side of the door. It is assumed that the track 6 has been placed in position and secured to the cross beam or header 5. Each hanger has its adjusting screw or bolt 45 screwed as far as possible within the screw threaded bore 43 of lug 42 to bring the lugs 41 and 42 into engagement. The door 1 is then held by the installer at an angle, as shown in FIGURE 2. Preferably the door is installed with the lip 50 of the trackway extending away from the installer, or in the position shown in FIGURE 2 at 5-1. The rollers 3'3 and 34 are brought into engagement with the trackway 11 by moving the door upwardly at an angle toward the header 5, as far as possible, then by pulling the door inwardly while maintaining the angle thereof, the' rollers will be received in the trackway. Thereupon the door may be released slowly to allow it to swing into a vertical position. Following this, the door is aligned with the jambs 2 and 3 by adjusting the screw or bolt 45 inwardly or outwardly by means of the screw driver 46. The weight of the door is transferredrfrom the truck, which includes the rollers 33 and 34 and the bar 30, to the arm 24. The normal tendency of arm 24 is to rotate.

about its pivot point 26 with the bracket 20. Such movement is restrained by the adjusting belt or screw 45. Hence by unscrewing the bolt or screw, the arm 24 is permitted upward rotation, as shown by the dotted line position for the arm in FIGURE 5 at 69. As the arm 24 rotates clockwise, in FIGURE 5, the shank of the bolt or screw 45 moves within the angular slot 44 of lug 41, to accommodate for change of radius. As a result, the operator very simply and easily adjusts and plumbs the door. The door when hanging correctly may be moved against the jamb side or into the pocket 4- between the jarnbs 2 and 3. It is customary to provide some form of guide for the bottom of the door such as I have described and shown in my Patent No. 2,865,043, dated December 23, 195 8, for Guide Spacer.

Usually a sliding door must be installed from one side of the door opening, but with the present invention, the door may be installed in the manner shown in FIG- URE 2 from either side which permits the door to swing in either direction. Furthermore, the construction which I have described effectively controls vibration in the door. This vibration is often due to uneven door movement, which may result from improper door balancing and leveling on a rail.

In certain constructions I may use a single roller instead of the two rollers 33 and 34 mounted on bar 30. The single roller is secured to otfset end 28 in place of pivot 29.

I claim:

A sliding door hanger, including: a bracket having two legs in substantially right angular relationship to provide a horizontal leg and a vertical leg, the horizontal leg adapted to be secured to the top edge of the sliding door and to lie horizontally and transversely thereof, with the vertical leg extending above and adjacent one side of the door, said vertical leg formed with a slot extending from the horizontal leg upwardly, a lug carried by the vertical leg and extending downwardly within the vertical leg slot at an angle to the plane of the leg toward and terminating above the horizontal leg, an arm provided with a roller, pivoted to the vertical leg of the bracket and provided along one edge with a lug extending at an angle to the plane of the arm, the two lugs lying in overlapped juxtaposition and transversely of the top edge of the door, the log of the arm formed with a screw threaded bore and the lug of the bracket provided with a slot and a screw passed through the slot of the bracket lug for engagement with the screw threads of the arm lug for adjusting separation between the lugs.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 689,395 Handschumacher Dec. 24, 1901 2,775,782 Boiu Jan. 1, 1957 2,786,227 Pearson Mar. 26, 1957 2,940,113 Riser June 14, 1960 

